"Other than the surname and their shared devotion to their students, Prince is a completely original character."
Prince was born on Mason's 12-minute walks to school when the dream of becoming a film-maker was starting to take hold.
"The film is inspired by those dreary trickling wet July mornings and my love of patient directors and tense thrillers.
"It feels like the culmination of every swirling thought that I'd conjured up on those old rainy walks to college.
"Every day I seemed to have some new wild idea coursing through my head."
By definition, the film is a thriller.
"It's a little creepy, hopefully intriguing and part-cop-drama, but at its core this film is a story about a kind-hearted principal struck with horrific circumstances, who will go to unfathomable measures to protect his students."
Completing NCEA a year early so he could head to the New Zealand Broadcasting School in Christchurch to study film and television production before moving to Auckland to pursue various filming opportunities, it was here that Mason first met and worked with his producing partner, Micah Winiata.
The two then moved to the United States to study at Columbia College Chicago.
Split by Covid-19 since the pandemic with Micha moving back to New Zealand while Mason stayed in Los Angeles, the two are reuniting to create Prince.
"This film doesn't exist outside of the Kāpiti Coast, I wouldn't shoot it anywhere else.
"For me it's about bringing local film-makers, producers, actors and composers back together from our time in the community and bringing some movie magic back home to Kāpiti."
Receiving support from the New Zealand Film Commission, Mason has been mentored during the development of this project and various other feature film projects by ex-Kāpiti College student and New Zealand director James Ashcroft, who is currently working on a $60 million Hollywood thriller.
"The people and passion behind this film are almost all Kāpiti natives.
"We've all gone away and learnt our stuff, now it's time to prove it was all worth it to those who supported us leaving the nest.
"It's incredible to see this come together in such a way."
Prince is the last short film Mason wants to shoot before moving on to feature-length films.
"This is the 'here's what I can do, world' piece that I hope can skyrocket me into some large festival awards and help me get my first major film off the ground."
Mason is asking the Kāpiti community to help fund the $85,000 film.
"We'll be approaching almost every business in Kāpiti for their help, and we're open to help from individuals too.
"If we can rally the community bit-by-bit, business-by-business, we think we can achieve our funding goal together."
Asking businesses to pledge up to $500-$1000 will net them an on-screen credit in the film and tickets to the screening events, while larger sponsors above the $1000 threshold will receive additional recognition and rewards.
The catch, Mason said, is that no one will be asked to hand over any money until the total amount of pledges reaches the full funding goal.
"Supporting this project is bringing paid film work back to the community for actors, extras, producers, camera crew and so many more."
Filming will take place over eight days, with Kāpiti College donating their school grounds, time, and students to the project free of charge.
"This is a major support considering the dozens of extras, eight shoot days and access we'll need to the college.
"Christian Cullen has also pledged the first $1000 himself, with Tommy's Kāpiti backing that up with another $1000."
When the film is completed, the priority is screening it in Kāpiti before sharing it with the world.
"We want the world to see our little town so it's going to be sent all over the globe to some pretty prestigious international film festivals (if they'll have us), and we're hoping to score big at one of them."
If all goes well on the festival circuit it will be made available to watch online or via household streaming platforms.
"We hope that Prince can play to massive theatre-loving audiences around the world at film festivals and streaming platforms upon release, and be a worldwide showcase of the talent of the many young film-makers who hail from Kāpiti."
